OCMA ‘no longer exists,’ after UC Irvine announces merger with Langson IMCA
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UC Irvine has fully assumed financial oversight of the Orange County Museum of Art, whose employees have been transitioned to the university system, under an acquisition plan approved by University of California’s Board of Regents.
Board members in a Sept. 17 meeting sanctioned the move, which university officials described in a news release Monday as “bringing together two renowned institutions under a shared vision of public access, scholarship and cultural engagement.”
The union will combine more than 9,000 pieces of contemporary and modern art in collections held by OCMA and the UC Irvine Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA).
“UC Irvine is committed to ensuring that the region benefits from a world-class art museum that enriches the cultural fabric of Orange County, advances groundbreaking scholarship, nurtures the next generation of creators and thinkers, and inspires curiosity and connection across diverse audiences,” Chancellor Howard Gillman said in Monday’s release.
While signage for the resultant entity — UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art — could soon go up, both online and at the 53,000-square-foot, $98 million facility at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts that became OCMA’s new home in 2022, exhibits and programming at the two institutions will remain separate through 2026. OCMA’s programs and exhibits will continue through 2027.
University officials Monday assured Langson IMCA would “remain an integral part of the university’s academic mission, operating from an on-campus site to support research, student training and integration across academic programs.”
Eventually, however, the museum will vacate its temporary gallery space on Irvine’s Von Karman Avenue at the end of its current lease, at which time a physical transition to Costa Mesa is anticipated to take place.
UC’s Board of Regents could soon vote to merge the Orange County Museum of Art with UCI’s Langson Institute & Museum of California Art. The deliberations come as OCMA bids farewell to its leader and amid lawsuits against a major donor.
“Everything is effective as of now — we are one entity now,” UCI spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp said Monday. “OCMA as it existed no longer exists. The employees and everything else pertaining to the museum is transferred to the university.”
As such, UC Irvine has assumed the assets and expenses of the regional Orange County museum and will fund the newly named institution through its annual operating budget, Uhlenkamp confirmed.
Meanwhile, all OCMA staff members are now employees of UC Irvine, earning equivalent salaries and eligible for benefits offered by the university. Although the final price tag of the merger has yet to be reported, Uhlenkamp said the transaction did not include a payment by either party to the other.
The university is conducting a national search for an executive director who will oversee the new joint enterprise. OCMA’s outgoing Executive Director Heidi Zuckerman, leaving when her contract expires at the end of the year, will not be replaced.
“We have a director search that’s ongoing,” Uhlenkamp said Monday. “That person is really going to determine the programming and oversee the transition.”
Orange County Museum of Art’s Board of Directors has been dissolved, but UC Irvine officials say they are exploring ways for interested members to continue to be engaged with the new institution. A promise to offer free admission to the Segerstrom Center facility through 2032 will be honored.
